Taraji P. Henson

Actress Taraji P. Henson began to catch the attention of film audiences with supporting roles in John Singleton's "Baby Boy" (2001) and "Four Brothers" (2005), but her breakout performance opposite Te...
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CBS
This post contains major spoilers for the most recent episode of The Good Wife.
If you've checked Twitter in the last 24 hours, you're probably aware of the fact that last night's episode of The Good Wife featured a twist so shocking that it caused friends and family you never knew were fans to come out of the woodwork and take to social media to discuss it. We are, of course, referring to the fact that Will Gardner (Josh Charles), died last night after being shot in the courtroom by his client. His unexpected death was not just shocking becuse neither fans nor his fellow characters could have seen it coming, but also becuase The Good Wife is not a particularly shocking television show.
Unlike Game of Thrones or House of Cards, which seem to find a way to make each episode more insane than the last, the drama on The Good Wife comes from either inter-personal conflict or the cases that Alicia Florrick and her colleagues at Lockhart Gardner take on. There are no battles or massacres, and rather than ending with a major character in mortal peril, the season-finale cliff-hangers usually center around Alicia starting her own law firm. Killing off a character with a stray gunshot is simply unheard of on this show.
Of course, The Good Wife isn't the first non-shocking show to feature a huge, plot-altering twist, and it certainly won't be the last. In honor of Will and his untimely demise, we've rounded up 10 of the most shocking television moments to be featured on realistic, straightforward television shows. Our condolences, Good Wife fans; you're not alone.
Brian Dies on Family GuyJust a few short months after the world managed to recover from the Red Wedding, Seth MacFarlane managed to bring the Internet to its knees when Brian Griffin, the sarcastic, alcoholic dog on Family Guy was killed after being hit by a car. Twitter was filled with threats about quitting the show if he wasn't brought back, websites scrambled over each other to interview MacFarlane and TV fans everywhere wondered how they missed the fact that people were not only still watching Family Guy, but could be emotionally invested in such a show. Of course, two weeks later, Brian was brought back to life, and everything settled back down to normal, but we shall always remember the time that a cartoon dog ruled the Internet.
Landry Murders Someone on Friday Night LightsThere are three things in this world that Friday Night Lights fans can unanimously agree on: Tim Riggins is insanely hot, the Taylors would be the best parents in the world, and the second season never, ever happened. That overwhelming denial is the result of everyone's favorite sidekick Landry Clarke killing a man who attacked Tyra, and then attempting to cover up the murder, a plot which even the writers agree was too insane for a show that specialized in quiet, realistic character development. Thankfully, the writer's strike resulted in the second season being cut short, and when the third season premiered, the plot had been all but retconned, and everyone continued on with their lives as if nothing strange had ever happened.
Sam Malone Reveals His Baldness on CheersOne of the things that made Cheers such a beloved television staple is the fact that watching it was like hanging out with a group of friends: everyone was relaxed, having fun, and attempting to guess when the perpetually will-they-or-won't-they couple would finally get together. Which is why the show's most shocking moment came when Sam revealed to Carla that his famously lush head of hair wasn't all his, and that, like Ted Danson, he was covering up his baldness with a toupee. Luckily, Danson and Sam are so charming that the world instantly forgave them of the deception, and instead went back to debating whether he should end up with Diane or Rebecca.
Taraji P. Henson Is Killed Off of Person of InterestDespite doing well in the ratings, Person of Interest has stayed under the radar since premiering in 2011. In fact, we're willing to bet most people didn't even know it's been on TV for that long. However, it properly entered the mainstream's consciousness when Detective Joss Carter, played by Taraji P. Henson, a fan favorite, was shot and killed in the line of duty. Suddenly, it seemed as if everyone was talking about Person of Interest, and you finally gave in and watched it with your parents the next time you had Sunday night dinner at their house.
Mr. Pamuk Dies in Lady Mary's Bed on Downton AbbeyLong before Downton Abbey turned into a full-blown soap opera and dispensed with most of the cast at regular intervals, the most shocking moment of the first season occurred when Lady Mary gave into her desires and spent the night with Mr. Pamuk, a handsome visiting diplomat, only for him to promptly roll over and die. Pamuk's death and the resulting cover-up was both surprising and hilarious, and is now likely looked back upon by disillusioned Downton Abbey fans with much fondness. Ah, the good old days.
NBC
Starburns Dies on CommunityFor all of the pillow-fort building, alternate timeline-jumping, and pop culture homages that make up Community, it has always managed to keep at least one foot in reality, even when the campus of Greendale is falling apart. Therefore, when Alex "Starburns" Osbourne died after the meth lab in his truck exploded, it was a genuinely shocking moment. It managed to cut through the insanity of Chang's military coup and the study group's latest bit in order to bring to light the genuine surprise and sadness that occurs whenever a friend or classmate suddenly dies. Don't worry, though; the gang incited a riot immediately afterwards, so everything went back to normal pretty quickly.
The Sound Guy Comforts Pam on The OfficeAlthough there are plenty of sitcoms on television that use a documentary-style of shooting, the production crews presumably filming everything are never acknowledged in any way. That is, until the episode of The Office where Pam revealed that not only were there real people behind those cameras and microphones, but she had become close with them over the years that they had been filming the staff at Dunder-Mifflin. The reveal of Brian, the boom-mic operator and his affection for Pam was enough to shock the show out of the rut it was in and allowed The Office to wrap up the show in an unexpected, emotional way. Plus, it kept fans engaged until the last episode, because they wanted to be sure that nothing would ever come between Jim and Pam.
Rayanne Sleeps with Jordan Catalano on My So-Called LifeMy So-Called Life has entered the Hall of Fame of teen dramas for being a smart, realistic show that dealt with the kind of issues that teenagers were actually going though. Issues like your best friend sleeping with the boy of your dreams, which Rayanne did towards the end of the show's run. Fans who had spent weeks watching Angela pine for Jordan were just as shocked and hurt as she was, and were torn between fury at Rayanne's betrayal, and understanding that nothing is more enticing that Jared Leto at his prime. Those cheekbones are definitely worth ruining a friendship over.
Marissa Shoots Trey on The O.C.Another classic of the teen drama genre, The O.C. was surprisingly down-to-earth considering it was a show about the obnoxious rich kids who lived in the most expensive part of California. That all changed, though, when Marissa Cooper (always the most dramatic person in Orange County) shot Ryan's brother, Trey, in order to protect Ryan. That shocking moment kicked off a full season of insanity, chronicling Marissa's downward spiral, which resulted in her own shocking exit a year later, and made it impossible to ever take an Imogen Heap song seriously ever again.
Zack Is the Serial Killer's Apprentice on BonesLike all crime procedurals, Bones has had its fair share of crazy, intense or scary episodes, but nothing came close to the reveal that Zack Addy, was working for the Gormogon, the cannibalistic serial killer the team had been hunting for months. Neither the fans nor the characters could have thought that shy, awkward, well-meaning Zack was capable of assisting a murder and blowing up a lab, but suddenly a beloved character was revealed to be the enemy. None of the twists that the writers have managed to come up with have ever topped this shock, though, and Bones has since gone back to being the show that everyone watched reruns of when they're sick.
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Duly Noted/Homegrown Pictures
Last year was celebrated as one of the biggest years in black cinema, if not the biggest. Such a year (with films like Fruitvale Station, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, and 42) culminated with 12 Years A Slave taking home the Academy Award for Best Picture. And now that 2014 is offically underway, one wonders if we can expect another big year for black films and black directors. Will there be room for more than just one film about the black experience at next year's Oscars?
Well the good news is that there are a number of exciting new projects set for a 2014 release. Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler will team up with Michael B. Jordan again for the movie Creed (a quasi-Rocky spinoff), and Spike Lee's highly-anticipated Da Sweet Blood of Jesus has completed filming and is set for a 2014 release. Although Oldboy flopped and his 2012 film Red Hook Summer left much to be desired, many of us still can't resist a good ol' Spike Lee joint.
One film that's also been getting lots of buzz is Justin Simien's feature debut Dear White People. First off, amazing title. And secondly, the film snagged Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Talent this year and their trailers and clips pretty hilarious:
Belles is another film we're excited about. The period piece, set in 18th century England, tells the complex story of mix-raced young woman raised in nobility. Amma Asante will direct the movie (her second feature film), inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle.
And although there is no release date yet for the new Lee Daniels movie (featuring the first gay action hero, played by Alex Pettyfer), the follow-up project to last year's The Butler has us plenty excited (along with his upcoming Janis Joplin biopic with Amy Adams). This year Daniels will also team up with his Precious lead Gabourey Sidibe again, along with Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson for a new FOX television series Empire.
Many other directors of color are on the rise this year and it's definitely a good thing. Here's hoping critics and audiences take note and embrace some of these great talents and their upcoming work.
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Hitmaker Timbaland has joined a U.S. TV series as the drama's songwriter and producer. Created by film director Lee Daniels and actor Danny Strong, Empire stars Hustle & Flow castmates Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. Timbaland will create new music for the show.

The last movie Michael Clarke Duncan made before his untimely death is due to hit cinemas in the U.S. this spring (14). The Green Mile star completed work on sports biopic From the Rough prior to his passing following a heart attack in September, 2012, and now film executives have secured a 25 April (14) release date for the movie.
From the Rough stars Taraji P. Henson as Tennessee State Tigers swimming guru Catana Starks, who became the first ever female coach of a college men's golf team.

CBS Broadcasting Inc.
John Reese (Jim Caviezel) was taking a trip to get away since he was still disconsolate at the death of Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson), but apparently the Machine had other plans. First it oversold his original flight to Istanbul and then opened up a seat in first class on another flight. Reese then got bumped from his seat to another due to a honeymooning couple wanting to sit together. One with someone being monitored by two marshals, one of whom was immediately knocked out in the lavatory after going to the bathroom - a situation that Reese discovered after the machine called a cell phone that he'd taken from a jerk who was talking too loudly on it and ignoring warnings to turn it off as the plane was taking off. He called to ream out Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), who said he hadn't sent him a number.
Reese wanted no part of it and tried to warn the other marshal, who told him to vamoose. Seconds after the marshal said that, he collapsed and someone tried to stab the asset with a needle. The would-be assassin's head then met Reese's knee. It was ascertained the marshals had busted an online drug market and the person being transported, named Owen Matthews, was a witness. The person who tried to kill Matthews was a member of the drug cartel with its leader known for being absolutely ruthless.
To make matters worse, Matthews, who resembled a typical computer nerd, and looked about as threatening as a fruit fly, had a mouth on him. Reese had to resort to a bit of electroshock with Matthews' stun belt to get him to get a bit more in line.
Sensing a bad situation, Finch had to send Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi) to see her former employers, The Activity - the people who wanted her dead before - to see why this person was of interest.
On the plane, the situation got worse for Reese. The honeymooning couple turned out to be assassins - Mossad agents. They tried to kill Matthews, but Reese intervened again while all the while everyone on the plane was distracted by an airline disaster movie. One of them stabbed Reese in the shoulder with a fork. "I guess the honeymoon is over," Reese quipped.
After threatening to disembowel one of the members, the one who booked all the flights for the agents, Shaw found out that there was an Activity agent - the one who replaced her - on the plane. Forwarned, Reese saw him and dispatched him, but Matthews fled in the confusion. Which, considering he was on a plane and trapped inside for several more hours, NOT A GOOD IDEA.
Reese found Matthews in a lavatory, knocked him out and moved him into the cargo hold, with assistance from a pretty flight attendant he had befriended earlier. On the ground, Shaw tracked down Hersh (Boris McGiver) - who had survived that blast from Vigilance and looked worse for the wear becaise of it - at a restaurant and drugged him. He told her that I.S.A. had an interest in the situation. In a bit of a comedic situation, Hersh then passed out at the table while Shaw walked away. It turned out that Matthews was The Sphinx, a notorious underworld figure. After Reese had to dispatch of the I.S.A agent again, he discovered that there there was another cartel assassin on board, this one disguised as a flight attendant and he was going to crash the plane to kill Matthews ... and everyone else on board.
The assassin shot the pilot, disabled the co-pilot and began putting the plane into a descent, intending to crash it on the tarmac in Rome. The flight attendant was unable to override the door's locks, but Reese, taking a page from United 93, grabbed a food cart and rammed it into the door, smashing it open. Inside, he began fighting the assassin, while no one was controlling the plane. Everyone was doomed.
Ah, but on the ground, Finch was able to hack into the airline's controls and by using the controls from a flight simulator joystick, was able to safely land the plane. Of course, all the passengers were blissfully unaware that they had come thisclose to dying. After all the passengers exited, Reese went to the baggage area and grabbed a large travel crate. Matthews was inside and Reese sent him off to a safe house where Finch would contact him to set him up with a new identity and place to live.
Later, Reese met the flight attendant for a drink in Rome. She gave him her card and told him to call her when he got back in the United States. After she left, he met Finch, who was sitting at a cafe table nearby. Finch had come personally to set up Matthews' new life. There was a bit of awkward conversation, but Finch admitted that he missed Carter terribly too. He also said that he had purposely set up the Machine to always have a human element decide the fate of someone. He offered to have Reese join him at a museum. Reese declined, which made Finch's look crestfallen, but he said that he had wanted to go to a tailor ... so he could be fitted for a new suit. That made Finch's day, since he knew that mean Reese was coming back to work.
Best Lines
Matthews: "Who are you?"Reese: "A concerned frequent flyer."
"You seem like an angry guy. Do you want to talk about that?" -- Matthews to Reese
"I didn't like my boss's boss." - Reese
"What do you need hairspray for? That salt-and-pepper hair is catnip for soccer moms. Go au naturale." -- Matthews*death glare from Reese, who had been looking for a possible weapon*
"I thought you got rid of that walking steroid?" -- Matthews to Reese as the I.S.A. agent bore down on them for the second time.
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CBS
The episode opened with Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) asking Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) where John Reese (Jim Caviezel) was. Finch said Reese would return when he was ready. Finch then ignored the Machine trying to give him numbers. It turned out Reese was at a bar in Colorado. Clearly still hurting from Joss Carter's (Taraji P. Henson) death, he walked away from saving someone who was being beat up and also he started drinking heavily.
Back in New York at the Library, Root (Amy Acker) was somehow communicating with the Machine too and told him that he was still needed and that he shouldn't ignore Her, meaning the Machine. He decided to help out and recruited Shaw to take over in Reese's absence. She was sent to play doctor at a local hospital, since the Number was a guy with a terminal tumor: Arthur Claypool (Saul Rubinek). Finch seemed stunned at first when he saw Claypool's face on his computer monitor. The tumor was affecting Claypool's memory and he was saying things that shouldn't be leaked, possible state secrets, and he had a Secret Service detail monitoring him.
There were a series of flashbacks throughout the episode, spanning a decade from 1969-79, with a young Finch and his increasingly-forgetful father who was suffering from what seemed like Alzheimer's. The phrase "If they want to keep me out, they need to build it better" was said often. It was interesting to see, though the flashbacks didn't illuminate much else about the character of Finch except to show how incredibly smart he was, which we all know anyways.
Claypool's wife, Diane (Camryn Manheim) came to the hospital. After an unsettling scene where he kept saying he didn't remember Diane, Shaw talked Diane in the coffee room. It turned out Claypool never talked to her about his work. She was broken up over how he had changed. After the conversation, Shaw found Claypool out of his room. It turned out he was in radiology. Finch chirped in and told her that he was in the NSA, which meant he was likely shouting secrets that many Bad People would love to get their hands on. Seeing a security detail outside the radiology room, Shaw got in there via a more unconventional way, through a ceiling tile. She found a syringe with sodium pentothal: Claypool wasn't be examined, he was being interrogated. She saw the would-be interrogtor -- a woman -- leave the control room and then of course, the Secret Service burst in. Side note: Shahi was doing really good job playing the "Reese" role with Finch during this whole thing.
Shaw was locked in a hospital office. A cell phone in a desk rang. It was Finch, who had driven to outside the hospital. He was reluctant to come inside, electing instead to try to figure out who was trying to interrogate Claypoool: it turned out to be a woman named named Elizabeth Ross. The agent began trying to question Shaw, who gave him a very hostile glare.
They cut to Reese at the bar. He walked past a table with a guy reading the paper. He yanked off the cap the guy was wearing: it was Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman). Reese kept him at arms length, but Fusco was not going anywhere.
Back at the hospital, the Secret Service agent interrogating Shaw got flushed and collapsed. His food was spiked. Shaw extricated herself and got to Clayman's room to try to get him and Diane to leave. There were people coming into the hospital: it was the Vigilance group I mentioned before. Things were going badly, Clayman was refusing to listen to Shaw, but then Finch came into the room. Clayman recognized him. Now mollified, Shaw and Finch got him out of his hospital bed, with Claypool reminiscing as they were walking along. Apparently the two went to M.I.T.. There was a brief shootout between Shaw and the Vigilance people, but Team Finch was able to get Claypool and Diane out.
At a hotel, Finch was asking Claypool about the things that Vigilance was asking about in the radiology room - about someone named Rudy and a program called 'Samaritan'. It turned out -- get ready to have your minds blown here -- Claypool had made ANOTHER Machine. It could remember and learn and was a real AI. I'll wait while you process that. Claypool said that Samaritan was destroyed in the wake of 9/11 and also because someone had already built a machine (Finch tried to keep a poker face at that but seemed to fail miserably).
At the bar, Reese chided Fusco for not drinking, only to have him retort that he was two years sober. It was because of Reese and then he got on him for his self-pity, saying that he wasn't the only one hurting. Reese said that that it was all pointless, which set Fusco off, since that pretty much intimated that the cop was pointless. Fusco decked Reese through the door outside and they fought, though Fusco lucked out, what with Reese having his reflexes dulled slightly by the drink. After a fight that was coordinated as well as a WWE match, police sirens broke it up. Carter would have probably smacked both of them for fighting.
At the hotel, Claypool was arguing with Diane again, and Finch tried to reassure his friend that it was his memory playing tricks on him again due to the tumor. That's when Claypool said something chilling: "No. I remember my wife. I buried her two years ago." "Diane", realizing that that the ruse was up, spoke into her watch and a bunch of agents burst in, subduing Shaw at gunpoint after a bit of a fight. Then even more of a shock: The assassin, Hersh (Boris MacGiver) entered. To make matters even worse, it turned out that "Diane" was really Ma'am from Control, Shaw's previous employer. She said that only one person between Claypool and Finch would leave alive. It cut to the Machine calculating survival percentages (Shaw had nearly an 85% chance of dying - yikes). Then ... from somewhere ... Samaritan seemed to be activated again.
The next episode is going to be on Jan. 7, which should be enough time for people to re-assemble their brains after all this. See you all in 2014.
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Giovanni Rufino/Warner Bros. Entertainment
Person of Interest is moving into new territory, with the whole "Endgame" arc having reached its conclusion. The death of Taraji P. Henson's Joss Carter leaves a big void (the image of Jim Caviezel's John Reese cradling her as she passed away after being shot by corrupt cop Patrick Simmons still endures). That means that creator Jonathan Nolan and other showrunners are taking a big risk that fans may leave the show because of her departure. Granted, it would have been a lot worse if Reese or Michael Emerson's Harold Finch happened to die, but this is close. On one hand, Henson had pretty much made it known that she wasn't going to be on the show forever and that there would be an exit strategy.
Even with the HR storyline finished, there's still plenty of other pieces to push forward. First, there's the group of privacy zealots who will do anything, including kill, to preserve that. Then there's the whole "The Machine is Planning Something Big" plot, and I must say that I'm very, very intrigued to see how this plays out, especially with Amy Acker's Root, who is being such a huge paradox: she can be a cunning, calculating killer in one moment and an extremely helpful ally the next. It was quite cool, I admit, to see her dual-wielding guns in the last Endgame episode. Let's also not forget that Boris McGiver's assassin, the singularly-named Hersh, is going to probably pop up at some point. He will NOT be grateful that his life was spared -- twice -- by the crew, the first time being in a fight with Reese and the second when Root stood down after the Machine told her not to kill him. He'll probably want to eliminate one or both of them.
In terms of the ratio of females to males on the show, the groundwork was actually laid out pretty early for Carter to shuffle off this mortal coil. Sarah Shahi's Samantha Shaw was brought into the fold last season, and Root was brought first as a villain and now exists as someone who is an uneasy ally. Add the recurring guest role of Paige Turco's Zoe Morgan, the ubercool fixer, and there's more than enough to offset the testosterone of Reese and Kevin Chapman's Lionel Fusco.
The people who stop viewing this show in protest might have had some valid points, especially the way that the shocking death was almost telegraphed with Reese and Carter kissing for the very first and last time in the same episode. It's true that losing someone who brought extra toughness and yet carried herself with extra grace like Carter did is a bad blow, but then again, things happen in real life that aren't fair either.
It seems that the roller-coaster ride is far from over. In fact, I'd say that it's only cresting its second or third hill. Buckle up, folks. It's going to be intense.
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CBS
The show opened without its usual "You are being watched". It jumped right in with a montage. John Reese (Jim Caviezel), attached to a heart monitor, was on a hospital bed at the library after being shot by corrupt cop Patrick Simmons. Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) was sitting by him. Johnny Cash's "Hurt" began to play and I had a much harder time writing this due to the room getting really dusty. Then it showed Joss Carter's (Taraji P. Henson) ex-husband and son at her funeral, with Finch and Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi) hanging back. Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman) was there. Then there was a bar scene with Shaw beating people up and showing Simmon's picture. Then to a seedy place with money being exchanged - Simmons was getting a fake passport. The passport go-betweens were then riding in an SUV, counting Simmons' money and laughing. A big truck t-boned the SUV and Reese, who was in the truck, strode to the rear seat, where one person was still conscious. He showed the picture of Simmons. The guy, who was in bad shape, babbled something and Reese, showing about as much emotion as a robot, walked away as the SUV exploded. That was the opening. Some shows down't pack that much in an HOUR.
The episode used its flashback method of bouncing back and forth between a timeline. This time it showed each member of the team sitting across from someone at various points in time and talking about an aspect of their personality. The first was in 2010: Finch was with a therapist, after the ferry bombing that had cost him his co-partner. He wanted to talk about grief. He was sitting in a wheelchair and he said that he had lost his closest friend. They were debating the use of grief in evolution. He said he was thinking of doing something radical to honor the memory of his friend. The therapist said that he was not God and that his friend's death was not his fault. He asked if survivor's guilt would go away if everything WAS his fault.
Back to 2013. Finch opened Root's (Amy Acker) cage to give her food and she looked at him with a worried glance and offered her help again. He said it was too late. She said not for Reese. She also that there was a bigger problems at hand. Whatever the Machine was planning was coming soon. Finch's cell phone rang. It was Fusco. He met him at the burned SUV. Fusco alluded to it probably being the work of a psychopathic vigilante, prompting a snarky Finch reply: "Which one?" Fusco said Reese and Shaw's scorched earth was not good, it was making it harder to find Simmons. The guy told Reese about the forger, a guy named Yorke - which meant they needed to find him. Too late. Shaw had him hanging - literally - by his arms from the ceiling. She ignored three voicemails. Soon Fusco and Finch strolled in. It turned out Reese had gotten to him first and thrown him off the roof and disappeared. Shaw was just working with leftovers. Finch warned her that Reese's injuries were life-threatening. Quinn was the only one who knew where Simmons was coming and going. They decided to get Quinn's lawyer. The problem was, the Russians were also after Quinn as well as Reese. The lawyer was dead, courtesy of the Russians.
It looked like they were at a dead end. Or were they? Shaw then realized that she had to make Finch swallow the possible poison pill: They had to bring Root into the fold.
The next flashback was 2005. Shaw, who was a medical resident, was called in to the office for her lack of emotion after telling a family that their father was dead while eating an energy bar. Her sociopathic personality traits were called out. The man said that she was supremely bright and talented, but she was a risk; she might be bored of the job soon, since she only thought about fixing things, not healing people. She wouldn't be a doctor.
Back in 2013, Shaw was telling Finch that Root was his only option, with Finch still displaying understandable reluctance, but he acquiesced, opening the Faraday Cage that was holding Root. She came out and a cell phone rings for her. She answered it with a smirk while putting a bluetooth piece in her ear. Later, they were driving and Fusco was not happy about sitting next to Root, saying that if he had known, he would have driven to the location by himself. Root guided them to the right place in the dark by using the machine. They pulled into a desolate area. Fusco was skeptical, but Root told him information all about himself, including how he got the name Lionel. She promised that she was there to help. "Just when I thought life with you was weird enough, one of you takes it to the next level." he fumed. Root asked for a gun, Shaw declined...she then told her to turn around, with Shaw shooting a U.S. Marshal in the leg just in time.
They found Quinn's hideout - a very large hotel that had been taken over. Any doubts that it was the right place was dispelled when a car in front bust into flames. This drove marshals outside to investigate. Shaw could only smile at that.
Another flashback brought us to 2007. Reese was in a military uniform and getting raked over the coals before joining an elite program. The interviewer wanted to make sure he was tough enough to do his job. Reese replied that he had been through it already and he'd been in the program for three years. His job was to find the person who had sold secrets to the Chinese. It turned out it was the interviewer who had betrayed his country. Reese shot him under the table, with no compunction.
Back in 2013. Reese was coming for Quinn, even though he was still losing blood and looked quite haggard. He locked the doors and turned off the power. Upstairs, Quinn's bodyguard thought his men could handle the situation, but the head of HR knew that Reese can't be stopped. The scene shifted to the hallways. First he set some kind of explosive on a ceiling and then took a bag of flares and dumped them in the hallway. Quinn's protection team came downstairs wearing night vision goggles. Reese jumped some of them and then shot the pile of flares to blind night vision. Then he blew up the room to finish off other guards. Several seconds later, the main bodyguard of Quinn's was neutralized and knocked out. Reese was back with the defiant Quinn.He put his pad down for him to write where Simmons was exiting. Quinn talked about loyalty and that he wouldn't give up the corrupt cop.
Reese too that too well. He said that he kept his word. "I'm going to kill you. In 3 minutes." He told him that he knew how to kill people painlessly, but was going to forget that. Instead, he was going to make the last three minutes of Quinn's life last forever if he didn't tell him the exit.
The cavalry got to the hotel and this time, Root asked for and got two guns. Seconds later, the Russians came to the hotel entrance and the two parties shot it out, with Root being a badass with her twin guns blazing. Shaw grudgingly admitted, "OK, that was kind of hot."
Finch made his way to the room and got to a rapidly deteriorating Reese just as the three minutes ended. He was trying to talk sense into the grieving ex-military man. His strength waning as his blood continued to flow. Sinking to the ground, Reese aimed his gun at Quinn, but it was empty. They had a choice: either get Simmons or take Reese to get help. Shaw was fuming that it looked like Simmons would get away to fight another day. Quietly, Root said, "The machine never said that Reese was the only one that wanted to kill Simmons." it cut to the hotel room, with Fusco organizing the arrest of Quinn. He looked down at the pad, shoved it in his pocket and walked off.
Back in time to 2005: Fusco was in therapy and talking about a shooting. The therapist asked how he was doing, and he said that he was sleeping just fine. He was being a hardass, but then he asked about doctor-patient confidentiality. The therapist expected him to break down, but Fusco turned the tables and admitted that he tracked down the perp, who had shot an off-duty cop. He said the guy got what he deserved and practically walked out of the office whistling.
Back in 2013, Simmons was making his way to a plane. He smiled as he left the hangar. Fusco greeted him and told him he had sent the pilot off. Simmons asked if he was going to shoot an unarmed man. They fought which didn't seem like the best idea, since Simmons seemed to be in better fighting shape and Fusco still had broken fingers from the last episode. Sure enough, Simmons had the upper hand at first,. but Fusco rallied and broke his arm. Beaten, Simmons egged him on to shoot him, but Fusco was having none of it. He said that Carter had been the best thing for him and shown him that he could be a good cop. He handcuffed him and led him off to the precinct.
The scene shifted to Reese recuperating and they found Root, who apparently was free to have slipped off to wherever she wanted to go, in the library. She had decided to stay for whatever the Machine had planned. At least in the beginning.
Finally, we were in the hospital, where Simmons was under police guard while he recuperated from his injuries. He groggily woke up to find someone in the shadows. It was the gangster, Elias (Enrico Colantoni). Simmons asked him what he wanted, since HR was dead. There was nothing. But Elias was not satisfied. He wanted to collect a debt, and he admitted that he was not civilized. He liked Carter. She had been civilized to the end. and now he was going to kill Simmons. Well, he watched as his bodyguard garroted him and the final scene showed Simmons' heart rate monitor go crazy and then flatline in a reversal of how the episode began.
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CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
This was the second part of a three-show arc, where "A Hero Will Fall." All the previews seemed to point towards Kevin Chapman's Lionel Fusco dying, but the showrunners have been known to completely mislead everyone.
The episode opened with footage of John Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson) talking about the head of the corrupt police squad, HR, Alonzo Quinn (Clarke Peters) as they dragged him away from the crooked judge's place. They decided to go to the FBI. The scene then shifted to the judge's place, with the harried jurist sitting in a ransacked place. The corrupt cop Patrick Simmons showed a picture of Reese to the judge, saying he was coming up with a plan and that they will find Carter and Quinn. Simmons was also working on story about how the house came to be in that condition and then shot the judge. Real cold. He wanted Quinn and Carter alive, but his directive for Reese: Shoot to Kill.
Outside: The Machine called Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) and gave a bunch of numbers. That's never a good thing.
Reese, Quinn, Carter got on a subway to go to the FBI office. Reese said the cavalry was coming. Part of that cavalry was Fusco, who was putting his son to bed at the moment. He showed him the key that Carter had given him for the lockbox that had all the information on HR, and tucked him in bed. After closing his room door, he found Samantha Shaw in his kitchen. After she told him the situation, that they were going to have to get Reese and Carter, Fusco tried to set boundaries. Shaw replied with a bored voice. "I'm already sorry I have to listen to your whiny ass all the way to Queens." She's very empathetic. Not.
Reese was the number, since Simmons had put the bounty out. As if on cue, a group of thugs came into the subway, one of them brandishing a knife. Really. A knife against Reese? Hah. Commercial.
The show started again with the thugs bouncing out of the subway and the three fugitives exited. Quinn, the defiant one, pickpocketed Reese's phone and broke it, severing a very important connection to Finch. Once they realized the communication with Reese was lost, Shaw suggested that Finch talk to the Machine. Finch demurred. Shaw pointed out the Machine talked to Root. Finch was not convinced and decided to separate Shaw and Fusco. Every horror movie fan all said, "Uh-oh..."
Finch went to talk to Root in her Faraday Cage in their library. He opened the conversation in an odd way, saying that he used to see the machine in his dreams when he built it, but Root had changed the DNA and corrupted the image. She replied that while the Machine spoke to Finch, she had a more intimate relationship with it. Root then struck a nerve by asking if the 'big lug is in trouble', meaning Reese. She offered her help, as if Finch would just forget that she kidnapped Finch and dragged him around the country while killing people. That was just mischievous fun between friends, right? Finch said that bad things would happen and she said that he has probably burned through previous 'helper monkeys' anyways. The only thing missing was her wearing a mask and talking about Chianti and fava beans.
Simmons and a detective named Petersen (played by Lee Tergesen, one of my favorite character actors) were talking while running a road block to try to catch Carter, Quinn and Reese. Walking through the subway station Shaw saw an Asian gang looking at people with suits. She contacted Reese, who was in an ambulance, wearing an EMT uniform. They rode by Simmons and Petersen and since it was dark, they almost made it. Of course, Simmons had to look at the back of the ambulance and saw a bloody handprint on the side. It may have been a deliberate signal on Quinn's part, but it was likely bad luck. He screamed to stop the ambulance and Reese took over driving while gunfire rained. Fusco laid down backup gunfire and the ambulance drove away. Of course, Simmons probably tracked down the path of the shooting and captured Fusco. Uh-oh. Another phone smashed. The prop department probably paid more than usual for its prop phones in this episode.
After the commercial, Shaw was talking to Finch. When it came to locating Fusco, she didn't find it very feasible. "Remind me to hire an optimist," Finch deadpanned. The scene shifted to Fusco tied up in a fortune cookie factory. Simmons was feeling cheery, describing how Fusco would be screaming. Chapman really turned in a great performance here, cracking wise. The punches began. Simmons held up the lockbox key that Fusco had, and the formerly dirty cop replied that it was for his locker in the Y. Simmons then read a bunch of fortune cookies until he got the one he wanted: "Tell the people holding you everything or they will break your bones." I think he made that one up, though.
Quinn, Carter and Reese were on the street, looking for a place to hide. Reese and Carter saw some gangs looking for them and did a quick turn, breaking into what turned to be the morgue. Reese grabbed a phone and contacted Finch, Carter figured out through their conversation that Fusco was being held. Outside, a cop was sitting in a car talking about not finding Reese. Shaw slipped in next to him and after a brief conversation, put a grenade in his hand and made him hold onto it. She asked where Fusco was and the cop stalled. With his lip quivering, he said that if he crossed Simmons, he would hunt down his family. He picked the wrong person to complain to. Shaw was unmoved and threw the pin into the backseat and exited, leaving a very panicked cop.
We went back to the fortune cookie factory to find Fusco in bad shape. There were distinct sounds of bones cracking. He was still quite defiant, but he was up against a psychopath in Simmons. The monster mentioned his child and as casually as asking someone to get some milk, he called an accomplice to kill the kid. Desperate, Fusco gave an address for the bank, somewhere in New Jersey.
Things got worse for Reese and Carter very quickly. Cops outside found the gang who had caused them to make their hasty exit and one member showed the morgue's broken lock to cops. Momentarily unaware of how bad things were getting, Reese and Carter were talking in the morgue. They shared their fatalistic views on life and their near-death experiences. Carter talked about birth of her son, a C-section. Reese said he thought of suicide, but the events that happened in the show's first episode saved him and that she was the best thing for him. After a moment, they kissed, culminating about two seasons' worth of sexual tension. He then said tenderly that she changed him. A major buzzkill then occurred: They saw people swarming the morgue. Carter declared they were coming in for the kill. As Scooby-Doo says: Ruh-roh.
The post-commercial break saw Reese and Carter barricading themselves and then Finch leaving Root breakfast. She was puzzled, since it was 4 in the morning. Finch said that he has to go. and left after resisting another entreaty of hers to help, even though she said she understood why he didn't trust her. She did casually say that she was sorry for his loss, which he responded with a shocked look.
We were taken to Simmons outside a bank, but Fusco had lied. It was the wrong bank. Fusco said that he would take them to the place himself, but an angry Simmons retorted that he kept his promises and told Petersen to have both killed. Back in the morgue, a cornered Reese and Carter were looking for things and Reese told her to look in supply closet for some chemicals. Carter came back out -- we know where this was going, right? -- to find the room empty and an air vent open. She called out his name, knowing he was possibly sacrificing himself. They talked outside the door, with Carter laying a guilt trip on him, saying she'd hate him if anything happened to him. He wryly replied that she was stuck with him and that he'd see her on the other side. At Fusco's place. a corrupt cop had his clearly terrified son on the bed while he stood in the doorway. Petersen wanted to twist the knife a little bit and had Fusco talk to his son before he was to be killed. Again, Chapman was excellent here, He was trying to comfort his son in what would probably be his last moments, telling him to close his eyes. There was a gunshot. Then Shaw's voice was on the phone. She had saved Fusco's son. But that meant that she couldn't save Fusco. Fusco nodded grimly at the news, but he seemed happy that his son was alive. He shook it off and stared death in the face. Of course, there was another commercial.
Fusco was staring down the barrel of Petersen's gun. But it was odd, he was talking calmly to him. Petersen was gloating, saying he had broken Fusco's fingers. "That made it no big deal to break my thumb," Fusco replied. That meant he was able to slip out of the handcuffs, and he managed to grab Petersen and choke him from behind with the cuffs.
It turned out to be Finch in the morgue. He dropped one guard with a taser and then started pulling on the power supply door. It was still dark and Reese started shooting. After some gunfire and dropping all but one cop, he managed to get out, holding his arm while hoping the lone cop would follow him outside. Finch turned on the power and used the loudspeaker to announce that all was clear. Carter dragged Quinn outside.
We saw Reese walking outside, with the Machine predicting his survival chances, which were dropping precariously by the second. Fate intervened, though, with Reese getting arrested by apparently the last two honest cops in NYC, due to an anonymous tip from Finch. They figured he would be safer in custody. Carter managed to get Quinn to the FBI, which began a whole montage of arrests, including Quinn getting a mugshot. The Machine said HR was neutralized.
Fast forward a bit. Things seemed back to normal. Finch ran into Carter outside her precinct. She was a detective again. She indicated to Finch that she knew about the Machine, which had Finch with another shocked look. She said she would make sure Reese was released. Another scene showed Fusco with his son at hockey. Shaw got in the car's back seat, but Fusco didn't say anyting about boundaries. He said thank you, which Shaw accepted.
It was later that night. Carter found Reese in holding as a John Doe. She walked him out and Finch was getting ready to drive Reese back to the library. It was mentioned that Simmons was still loose. Just as Finch was getting out of the car to cross the street to get Reese, a pay phone rang, to indicate a number. Finch stood frozen, staring at the phone. While Finch stood there, Simmons came out of an alley and shot both Reese and Carter. Carter winged Simmons, but got a bullet mid-center for her troubles. While Reese, badly hurt himself, held Carter, she died. Finch could only still stand there in disbelief.
Previews for Part III seem to show a very, very unhinged Reese. It should be fascinating, though it will be difficult to say if people will have processed the events of this episode in time. A week is very short.
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Warner Bros. Entertainment
Last night's episode, which opened a three-episode arc, began with surveillance footage of a delivery truck pulling up to a car on fire. A person shot at the truck and two people were subsequently knocked out and the assailant then drove off with the truck. Oh, yes, the mystery person was wearing a gas mask.
The show cut to the library, with John Reese (Jim Caviezel) and Harold Finch (Michael Emerson). Apparently the Machine, which is the center of the whole show, has issued 38 numbers. (A brief primer - this machine, which uses all kinds of surveillance footage, issues numbers for people who are in potential danger. It's then up to Reese, Finch and anyone in their network to save these people.) These numbers turn out to be all cops. Hmm.
Detective Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman), one of the people Reese and Finch regularly call on, came up to the morning scene of the smoldering car. Reese surprised him by also coming up and presenting a fake badge. It turned out to be a Russian driving the truck; for those who have been following the show, you know that the Russian mob has been intertwined with the mysterious HR, a criminal element of corrupt cops. An element that Fusco used to be part of. Reese and Finch knew that a war is possibly brewing between HR and the Russians, since HR was supposed to give safe passage for the Russians to trade their illicit wares. Reese wondered, "Who lit the fuse?"
This show REALLY does well in going back and forth in time. The footage rewound to Nov. 10 (the show pretty much operates as if it is happening on the very day that it airs). Another Reese/Finch cohort, police officer Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson), was meeting with Alonzo Quinn - a prominent member of City Hall, the godfather of the late Cal Beecher (a love interest of Carter's) and the head of HR, which Carter now knew from events in last week's episode. She purposely sounded pessimistic when talking with Quinn, saying she was thinking of stepping down from the Beecher investigation. Clarke Peters continued doing a great job of playing Quinn as a sociopath. Quinn left but not before Carter used another technology often featured on the show: She paired her phone with his, so that she could hear whatever calls he makes or receives. She heard him talking with Patrick Simmons, a corrupt cop and pretty much Quinn's right-hand man, to set up a meetup with the Russian Mafia and their big man, Peter Yogorov. They met and of course, Carter was nearby with a directional mike. Yogorov complained that he was more like an errand boy and then said that he was done. Simmons fired a verbal warning shot by saying that they wouldn't provide safe passage for their delivery vehicles anymore, which Carter duly noted. Simmons then told a dirty cop that he wanted him to stake out Carter.
Carter went home and found Reese waiting there. There's always an undercurrent between those two. Reese is very protective, but Carter wasn't having any of it this time. She said that she wanted to be left alone - since the law says he's a criminal and HR knew they work together. Reese seemed to respect that and then as he was leaving, tossed over his shoulder for her to call if she got in over her head. After seeing that the former CIA operative was gone, she took the phone that Finch and Reese contact her on, removed the sim card and smashed it with her gun. Well...that was a statement. Not necessarily a SMART one, but a statement.
Two more flashbacks were woven through the episode dealing with Carter and her ex, Paul, at different junctures in time - eight years ago and five years ago. Eight years ago, Paul was a defiant man who refused to get help for his PTSD during military service. Carter had enough and made him leave. At first he was defiant and even went to her home and sat with their young son. He got angry when she told him he still needed help and even smashed a lamp, causing her to reach for her gun. He left, angry. Then the five-year flashback showed that he HAD gotten help and while he knew it was too late to repair their relationship, he wanted to be there for them.. and he left her his number to call if she needed help. This all played a part in the end .
Flash forward to present day, with Carter and Fusco sitting near a dock. Carter had been shutting Fusco out, but her former partner reached out after she had lost her current partner in a shooting. Fusco was trying to figure out how everything happened, but Carter, who had actually been there, diverted his attention. After Fusco left, she made a phone call...which turned out to be to Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni), an ally only in the sense of keeping one's enemies closer than one's friends. Elias, who had been in hiding, paid a visit to Yogorov, which was awkward because Elias had killed Yogorov's dad. After convincing Yogorov that he hated HR more than him, he left an incriminating file for Yogorov to pore over.
After Carter got a confirmation phone call from Elias and told him to lay low, a recent cohort, Samantha Shaw (Sarah Shahi), met with her unbeknownst to Reese and Finch (because they would have had a collective aneurysm) and brought a satchel of guns. That led up to the scene with the burning car and delievery truck. It was Carter who did it. Later, Reese and Finch saw the footage and after sussing out that it was a female, thought it was Shaw. Turns out Shaw spilled the beans that it was Carter, leaving both Reese and Finch in a state of consternation
An angry Yogorov called Quinn, accusing him of the theft of the truck. Quinn tried to play cool, but the mobster threatened him. This was interspersed with Carter on a nearby rooftop overlooking Quinn's office.
While Carter was busy, Reese went to her house (he tends to ignore personal boundaries) and found it empty but located a bulletin board with her HR list. Reese called Finch and then got a call from Carter. She asked him to trust her, which he did, reluctantly. Afterwards, Simmons called Quinn and while they were conversing, Carter shot out his window with a sniper gun, making him think it was the Russians, setting the stage for an all-out war, a war that Finch said favors HR, since they have the law on their side.
There were scenes of Russian men being rounded up by HR and then Carter went to a cornered Yogorov and warned him. The only solution? Have her arrest him, a point she punctuated by holding up handcuffs.
This was a half hour's worth. The writers do NOT dilly-dally, which makes a very fast show. It felt like an hour's worth of excitement had been crammed in that shorter span.
The second half-hour began with Yogorov in holding under a fake name. Carter said that he shot at Quinn and that she knows Quinn is head of HR. She also said that Quinn HAS to go down and needs him to sign a statement as such. The carrot that she dangled was moving his brother, who HR has in Rikers as leverage, to a safer facility. Yogorov bit, but not before warning her to be careful which judge she chose to get a warrant on Quinn, since there's a lot of money moving around. Carter assured him that she had done her due diligence.
Carter surprised Fusco outside his place and after some back and forth on the subject of trust, she admitted that she's protecting him and gave him the key to a safe deposit box that has everything on HR. Hey, if that's not trust, I don't know what is. Fusco was so moved at this that he wanted to help and ran upstairs to get equipment, but of course Carter ditched him, since she needs to be the lone wolf.
HR had the mobsters at a shipyard and were all set for some gunplay. Reese and Shaw were at the scene, hiding. But just as the HR cops pulled their guns out, the FBI came screeching in. After a brief conversation, they found drugs in the trunk of a high-ranking HR cop's car. Fusco called Reese to say that Carter ditched him.
Carter called a judge for a warrant, but after he agreed to, he hung up and called Quinn. Oops. Right then I had a vision of the ancient Knight Templar in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: "You have chosen...poorly."
Before heading to the judge, Carter called Paul and had a heartfelt conversation with both him and her son, who was staying there. After hanging up, she drove to the judge, who escorted her to his living room, where Simmons, Quinn and several other dirty cops were waiting. With guns. Quinn had to have a little speech, and Carter got him to keep talking...for them to record his words on his own phone (Knight Templar: "Oops. You chose wisely! Wisely!") and in that moment of stunned silence, Reese burst in through the doors like the Terminator, guns ablaze. Carter managed to grab Quinn, who got winged by a shot, and managed to drag him outside while he defiantly kept saying that this was the worst mistake she ever made. A cop car came screeching into the driveway, but Reese shot out its engine and they made their getaway while the cop took cover behind his car door.
Of course, though, Simmons got a picture from the police car dashboard. and directed that the image of Reese, Carter and Quinn be distributed to EVERYONE. Including criminal elements. The episode ended there...which was good, since I almost permanently whitened my knuckles during the last 10 minutes.
The wheels are rolling and it's going to be VERY interesting to see what happens in the next two episodes.
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Title

Worked as a secretary and a singing and dancing waitress to pay for college

Made her debut TV appearance on an episode of The WB sitcom "Smart Guy"

Made film debut in "Streetwise"

Joined the cast of ABC's "Boston Legal" for one season

Joined an ensemble cast for Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys"

Played Shug, the pregnant prostitute and live-in girlfriend of Terrence Howard in Craig Brewer's "Hustle & Flow"; also made her singing debut, providing the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"

Played a former Iraqi soldier turned NYPD homicide detective on the CBS mystery drama "Person of Interest"

Had a small role as a student in the comedy "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"

With Three 6 Mafia, performed the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" at the 78th Academy Awards ceremony

Starred in "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," written and directed by her film co-star Perry

Joined the cast of the Lifetime series "The Division" as Inspector Raina Washington

Earned positive reviews for her role as the strong-willed girlfriend of Tyrese Gibson's character in John Singleton's "Baby Boy"

Cast in the ensemble comedy "Think Like a Man"

Auditioned for the Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts, but was not accepted

Cast in the role of Queenie, Benjamin's (Brad Pitt) mother in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Nominated for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Joined the cast of the ensemble crime thriller "Smokin' Aces"

Cast in a supporting role opposite Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in "Larry Crowne"

Summary

Actress Taraji P. Henson began to catch the attention of film audiences with supporting roles in John Singleton's "Baby Boy" (2001) and "Four Brothers" (2005), but her breakout performance opposite Terrence Howard in the acclaimed urban drama "Hustle &amp; Flow" (2005) really set the critical buzz in motion. A virtual unknown when she was flooded with award nominations for her performance and her singing on the film's soundtrack single "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Henson's image as a feisty, independent woman led to steady series television work and another round of accolades for the acclaimed period biopic "Talk to Me" (2007). When Henson found herself sharing the screen with Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008) the following year, it was clear that her long-held dream of being a respected A-list actress was quickly becoming reality.